AAJA, in partnership with the Gannett Foundation, is offering a $5,000 award to recognize groundbreaking work by a journalist or a team who creatively uses digital tools in the role of being a community’s watchdog. Special consideration is given to journalism that helps a community understand and address important issues.

Criteria for evaluating innovation include interactivity, creation of new tools, innovative adaptation of existing tools and creative use of any digital medium. An entry can consist of a single story, series or package on a single subject.